Button toggle



L. S. HAPEMAN BUTTON TOGGLE Sept. 30 1924. 1,509,837

Filed March 6. 1923 A TTORNEY Patented Sept. 30, 1924.

LINCOLN S. HAPEIVIAN, OF WATER/BURY, CONNECTICUT.

BUTTON 'IDGGLE.

Application filed March 6, 1923.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, LINooLN S. HAPEMAN,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of 'Waterbury, county of New Haven, and

State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button Toggles, of which the following is a specifi-- cation.

This invention relates to button fasten-- ings and more particularly to an improved form of wire button toggle adapted to be detachably connected to a button for holding said button upon a sheet of material.

One object of the invention is to produce a toggle of the above nature which while attached to the button may be passed through the buttonhole or eyelet without detaching, thereby preventing danger of losing or misplacing the toggle.

A further object of the invention is to produce a U-shaped toggle which may be formed from a single piece of wire having a plurality of oppositely bent convoluted sections located in a single plane.

A further object is to provide a button toggle of the above nature which will be simple, cheap to manufacture, easy to manipulate, and very ellicient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, there 39 have been disclosed in the accompanying drawings two forms in which the invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a button with its eye passed through an eyelet in a sheet of material, such as wearing apparel, and with the toggle shown in looking position.

Figs. 2 to 8 represent the various successive steps of one method employed for assembling the button and toggle.

Fig. 9 represents an alternative method of assembling the button and toggle.

Fig. 10 represents a view of a modified form of toggle embodying the principles of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denote correspond ing parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 represents a button having a fiat top portion 11 and a curved bottom portion 12. A button eye 18 is permanently secured to the center of the curved bottom portion 12 and is adapted to be passed through an aperture or buttonhole in the sheet of material, such as a garment 14:an eyelet lt being Serial No. 623,134.

preferably located in said aperture. The toggle which is indicated generally by the numeral 15 is formed from a single piece of cylindrical metal wire bent upon itselr" in the shape of a U, each arm of the toggle being convoluted in a single plane, said arms having their adjacent convex portions 16 and 17 preferably lying adjacent each other. The terminals of said toggle, which are also referred to as crab-jaws, are also bent inwardly-into contact, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. As will be clear from the drawing, the ends of the wire are out ofi" square, so that when the toggle is formed, the ends will also converge to enable the button eye to enter easily.

It will thus be seen that the toggle has a plurality of loops 18, 19, 20, within which the eye of the button may be interchangeably moved as desi-red.

In operation, when it is desired to attach the button to a sheet of material, the eye 13 of the button will first be inserted through the eyelet 14c of the sheet (or directly through the 'aperture it no eyelet is used). The toggle may then be attached to the button by either of two, methods. According tov the first method.whi ch is illustrated in Figs. 2 to 8the toggle should be first positioned with its loop 20 vertically above the eye 13 of the button, as shown in Fig. 2. The toggle will then be pressed downwardly around the eye 13 until it assumes the position shown in Fig. 3. It will then be pushed to the left, causing the crab-jaws 20 to spread apart and then to snap together into the eye 13, as shown in Fig. l. The button may then be twisted through a right angle to the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6, whereupon the toggle will be forced to the right relative to the button, causing the arms of the toggle to first spread apart as shown in Fig. 7, and then to snap together into the locking position shown in Fig. 8.

The toggle may also be connected to the eye by holding the button in the position shown in Fig. 9, arranging the toggle vertically aboveit, and torcing the. toggle downwardl-y with respect to the button. During this operation, the arms of thetoggle will ride over the eye 13 and snap. together into the eye. The toggle may then be swung down and around to the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and then moved to the looking position shown in Fig. 8, by the method previously described.

When it is desired to remove the button from a sheet of cloth or other material, as before laundering it, the toggle may be moved from the position of Fig. 8, either to the right or the left relative to the button, so as to bring the eye 18 into the loops 18 or 20 respectively. In either case, the toggle may then be rotated to a vertical position, whereupon the button and depending toggle may be pulled directly out of the sheet with out separating them. The button and toggle may then be laid aside while still connected together until it is desired to again attach I the button to the sheet of material.

The modified form of toggle shown in Fig. 10 comprises a straight arm 21 and a convoluted arm 22. The straight arm 21 is provided with an inclined terminal 23, which is bent inwardly toward the oppositely inclined extremity 24: of the convoluted arm 22 of said toggle. lhe convoluted arm 22 is also provided with inwardly bent convex sections 25 and 26 :Eorming aseries of loops 27, 28, 29. The convex sections 25 and 26 are of sharper curvature than the convex sections 16 and 1'7 of the first illustrated embodiment, but the interior width across the loops is approximately the same for both forms of toggle. The method of assembling the button with the toggle shown in Fig. 10 is exactly the same as that of the form first described.

Thetoggles made in accordance with the present invention are especially adapted to be employed with buttons having either round eyes, as shown, or upon buttons having eyes of difierent shapes, such as elongated oval eyes, within the spirit of the invention.

It will thus be seen that an inexpensive form of toggle has been produced which will securely attach a button to a sheet of material, but which may be readily slid along the eye of the button to permit the button to be removed, without separating the toggle therefrom. One important advantage of the invention is that whenever desired, the toggle may be quickly removed from the button by a slight pull with one hand of the operator, whereas previous forms of toggle of this general type could be removed only by the use of both hands.

While there has been disclosed in this specification two forms in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that these forms are shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosures, but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the fol lowing claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is Cl:1i1l'1C(. as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. The combination with a button having an attached eye, of a toggle adapted to be connected to said eye for locking said button to a sheet of material, said toggle comprising a wire rod bent upon itself to form a plurality oi loops, one of said loops being open to permit the entrance of said button eye, and another loop serving to hold the button in locked position, the sides of said toggle being adapted to be laterally spread apart in a single plane to permit said button to be readily inserted within the end loop of the toggle, the ends of said rod converging inwardly, and lying in contact with each other whereby there will be no projecting points to catch the material.

2. In wire button toggle, a pair of resilient side arms having portions bent inwardly to produce a plurality of loops within which the eye of a button is adapted to be interchangeably held, the side arms of said wire being adapted to be spread apart in the plane of said toggle, said side arms having converging ends lying in contact with each other.

8. In a wire button toggle, a pair of convoluted resilient side arms having portions bent inwardly to produce a plurality of loops within which the eye of a button is adapted to be interchangeably held, said side arms being outwardly mo able in the plane-of said toggle to admit or release the eye of said button, said side arms having converging ends lying in contact with each other.

i. In a wire button toggle, a pair of re silient side arms bent into substantially the shape of a U, said side arms having their free ends bent toward each other and arranged in the same plane whereby said arms may be readily separated in the plane of the toggle to permit said toggle to be snapped upon an eye-attached button, said. side arms having converging ends lying in contactwith each other.

5. In a wire button toggle, a pair of re silient side arms formed from metal wire bent into substantially U-shape, said arms being convoluted and arranged with their convex sections adjacent each other to form a plurality of loops, said side arms being separable in the plane of: said toggle to permit the eye of a button to be inserted in said toggle and positioned within any one of the loops thereof, said side arms having converging ends lying in contact with. each other.

6. In a wire button toggle, a pair of resilient side arms formed from metal wire bent into substantially U-shape, said arms being convoluted to form a plurality of loops, said side arms being separable in the plane of said toggle to permit the eye of a button to be inserted in said toggle and positioned Within any one of the loops thereof, said side arms having converging ends lying in contact With each other.

7. In a Wire button toggle, a pair of resilient side arms formed from metal Wire bent into substantially U-shape, said arms being convoluted and arranged with their convex sections adjacent each other to form a plurality of loops, the extremities of said arms lying in contact With each other, said side armsbeing separable in the plane of said toggle to permit the eye of a button to be inserted in said toggle and positioned Within any one of the loops thereof, said side arms having converging ends.

In testimony whereof, I have ailixed my 20 signature to this specification.

LINCOLN S. HAPEMAN. 

